Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
I have never been a huge fan of flashcards, but my son needed some consistent practice on basic math facts. He knows how to add and subtract, but needed more practice to increase his speed and accuracy with basic facts. This past month we have had the pleasure of reviewing the MathRider game.
What is MathRider?
MathRider is a math facts that game that is designed to reinforce addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Instead of boring flashcards, students get to practice the facts on the computer while completing a quest. It is purchased as a permanent liscence that can be used with the students in your home.
You set up your student and indicate which types of facts they need to review. For example, I had my seven-year-old son start with just addition facts and numbers up through 12. Then they are ready to begin their quest. There is a short computerized movie at the beginning that explains the quest and how they will earn points and move across the map.
How We Used MathRider
When the game begins, the character is riding on a horse and has to answer the math facts correctly in order to jump over obstacles. At first it was a little bit too fast for my son and he was having trouble getting ahead of it. However, once he practiced a couple time he got the hang of it.
The timed nature of it helped him begin to memorize those math facts so that he could answer from memory and not have to do the math in his head each time.
He could work through short sections each time (just a couple of minutes long) and when he came back to the computer it would remember where he was in the quest. When he completed his first quest, there was another little digital movie that congratulated him on what he had done and told him about his next quest.
My Son’s Thoughts
He was really frustrated by the timed portion at first, but once he got used to that part he really enjoyed the program. He loved seeing how far he had gone on the map after each section and found that very motivating.
My Thoughts
I liked that it was not dependent upon the internet once I had it downloaded and set up. This meant that my son could use it in the car or other places. This is really helpful for us, because we tend to use the computer more when we are traveling.
I also appreciated that it was very easy to set up and easy for him to work through on his own. It only took me a couple of minutes to set up his log in and assignments and then he was able to work thought the quest independently.
I did notice that the graphics and style were a little retro in style, reminding me of the computer games from my youth. That might be a problem for some families, but we loved it It was simple but worked well.
Assessment
There was good feedback in the statistics section to help me know what Benjamin had mastered and which facts needed more practice. I appreciated that it was tailored to what he needed and not just all of the facts randomly selected.
MathRider Conclusions
Overall, we thought this was a fun game for practicing math facts. I plan to continue to use it for addition and subtraction for now, and probably multiplication and division next year when he reaches those areas in his math curriculum. The game is not designed to teach children how to do the problems, just provide practice to help them achieve master of the facts.
Other Review Crew families used different components of the program, so make sure to click on the graphic below to see what they thought!
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